The True Meaning
by Little-libby-lou
Summary: Summary in Chapter One...
1. The Breath of Lies

Hey guys! My name is Little Libby Lou, though you guys can call me Libby, and this is my first story ever. This is a total AU story, and I rather like the plot, so please, reviews are always welcomed. But no flames, because I burn easily, and then i'll have to whine about it to my friends, and that wouldn't be fun for anyone... Well, I hope you enjoy the story!

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The True Meaning  
Prologue; The Breath of Lies

was a cold winter night as twenty-three year old Rose Thorn walked through the newly fallen snow. It was a beautiful winter night, the sky was a dark shade of purple, and the wind was slightly blowing, making the fallen snow float about a bit before they softly hit the ground. Rose let a sigh escape from her pale colored lips as she walked, listening to the crunching of the snow beneath her boots. She wondered if she was ever going to escape this place; if she could go home, and see her real family. Ever since that night when she was with Jake, Trixie and Spud, in the dream realm, and she saw that she had been taken from her family, she'd doubted her loyalties to the huntsclan, but, what ever her plan was, she couldn't do it now. They had been watching her. They always had, but, ever since she had gotten out of school, she had been watched even closer. She could always seen members of the huntsclan around, looking like ordinary people, doing ordinary things, but she knew other wise. It was pure luck that she had been walking down the alley way, with out a single other huntsperson following her, but she knew they had ways of finding out. She had no where to go. She couldn't go to the school, a place where she once felt safe, but now just felt as if she had been another ghost of her past. She couldn't go home. No, that was the least safe spot for her right now. She couldn't go to the old antic shop. That had been shut down years and years ago, when Jake's grandfather had died. Jake. A word that didn't pop into her head very often, but when it did, things started going wrong, so it was best that she not think about it, but what harm could it do while Rose was walking in the snow?

"I miss you so much"

Those were the first words that had came out of her mouth all day, and she was saying them to a figure that had probably gone a hundred miles, at least, to get away from her and the people she once called family. She couldn't call them family any more. She couldn't call them that since she figured out she was kidnapped when she was just born. Oh how she wished she knew where they were now. He parents and her sister. Did she have any more little siblings? Cousin, aunts and uncles perhaps? Had she met any of them, but didn't know who they were? Oh how she wished she knew.

Rose slowly stopped walking; realizing that she had led herself to an alley way, and let the gentle breeze hit her face. Something was not right. She could feel it in her bones. The wind, it was trying to tell her to go hide. But where? Rose looked around, and all she saw was trashcans and dumpsters. Before anything else was done, Rose heard footsteps. She turned around, and saw shadows behind her. She ran. She didn't know who those people were, but she didn't want to find out. "There she is," she heard a voice from behind her say. "Get her," another voice screamed. Now it had confirmed what she had most feared of. She continued to run. Run as fast as she could. She didn't know where to run though. No where was safe for her now. "Huntsgirl, you can't run forever!" That was true. Rose couldn't run forever. She knew she was going to lose. he knew she was going to lose the battle, but there was still hope. She continued running, but tripped over a rock, and fell on the ground, hitting her head hard. She tried to get up, but her body was in pain, and she just couldn't do it, so she lay there, silently praying that she wished everything would be okay, when she felt someone -- or something -- lift her body. Was it by someone who wanted to help? No, Rose could tell it was one of them. She had failed the hunstclan, she had failed Jake, and she had failed herself. Who else was left for the young girl to hope for? "Good-bye, Huntsgirl," was the last thing Rose heard, before she felt something in her mouth, and she became unconscious.

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Like it? Hate it? Think it's confusing? Well, then I guess you'll have to keep reading, then, eh? Also, please review!!! Please, please, PLEASE! 


	2. The Unknown Reasons

Okay, well, here's chapter one. It took me forever to work on it, but I got it done! Also, here's the summary.

**Summary**:_ AU _She wishes she could undo all the pain. She didn't understand it at first, but now she realizes that it was wrong. She wanted to go back in time. He wanted to find her. To find her, and to kill her. He had once loved her so much. But now he only had one feeling towards her... Hatred.

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The True Meaning  
Chapter 1; The Unknown Reasons

"Mom! Dad! I'm home," Eighteen year old Jake Long shouted as he smoothly walked into his New York home. He walked into the living room, looking around for anything out of the ordinary, and noticed that there was no one there. He walked into the dining room, and found nothing, not even Hayley working on her homework. Something was wrong. He found himself in the kitchen, and soon found that the only thing stuck on the fridge was a sticky note, with a note scribbled on it. Jake slowly took it of the fridge and read it.

**DEAR JAKE,  
****SOMETHING HAPPENED AT GRANDPA'S SHOP. PLEASE GO THERE AS SOON AS YOU GET HOME, IT'S VERY URGENT.**

**LOVE,  
****MOM**

He frowned and threw it down into the trashcan. Anger rushed through his blood as he picked up his skateboard. He threw open the door, and let his skateboard hit the ground, and he quickly started to skate towards his grandfather's shop. He dodged the pedestrians, trying to get there as fast as his skateboard could take him, and he had gotten there in record timing. Jake grinned to himself as he made he was around the corner, proud of his accomplishment, but his smile soon faded as he saw the unexpected in front of his grandfather's shop. There were police cars all around, and there was the weird orange tape surrounding the building, with crowds all huddled around it. Jake made his way through the crowd to the front, where he saw Hayley talking to a big, muscular police man, tears pouring out of her otherwise beautiful eyes.

"Hayley!" a nearby police man took a step towards Jake and glared at him, ready to pound, but Hayley reassured the men that Jake was her brother, and he was soon let in. He ran up to Hayley, and picked her up. Hayley wrapped her arms around her big brother's neck, and cried softly into his shoulder. He just stood there for a moment, hold his baby sister in his arms. He didn't know what was going on, but he softly rubbed Hayley's back, telling her everything was going to be okay.

"No, Jake, no it's not. Everything ISN'T going to be okay…" Hayley whispered as she lifted her head to look into her brother's eyes. They were so much alike, it was scary. Jake would never admit it, but he knew his sister had just as much determination, and strength as he did, if not more, and it scared him to see her like this; so weak and helpless.

"Why Hayley," Jake replied as he whipped the tears off of her face, "Why isn't everything going to be okay?"

"Because.. Because… Because grandpa is…" Tears again began to fall from her face, and she buried her face into Jake's shoulder again. Jake didn't mind the wetness on his shirt; he just wanted his little sister to be okay. His mom and dad walked out of the store, and immediately rushed over to their boy, and engulfed him and his sister in a group hug. They stood like that; a family that had just been through something very traumatic. His mom let go after a few seconds, and Jake got a good look at her. She was pale; sickly pale. Her eyes were red and puffy, as if she had spent the past day crying. His father looked better, but not by much.

"What's going on?" Jake finally had the will power to talk. His mom looked over at his dad, worried, scared.

"Jake," his mother started to say, but tears started falling, and she never got to finish her sentence. "Jake," his father repeated, "Your grandfather was… killed. Murdered. He's gone."

The words echoed through Jake's mind as he stood there. He was frozen solid, unable to move, or think properly. The only thing that was on his mind was his grandfather. His DEAD grandfather. Murdered. Right in the safety of his own home. Jake vowed that he would get the person who had done this to him. He looked up into the sky, and prayed that everything was going to be okay in the end. Then, he noticed something – no, someone – on the building across the street. The building was a good five stories high, but Jake knew who it was. He knew why she was there.

_Rose_.

The two seemed to be locked in a stare. No words were exchanged, but Jake knew why she was there. He knew what she had done. _Why? _Jake seemed to think to himself as if she could read his mind. _Why kill him?_ Jake wanted to scream. He wanted to go dragon, and just fly up there and chop her up into a million little pieces.

But he knew that wouldn't bring his grandpa back. He took a deep breath, and then looked down at his parents and sister. Although mourning for his grandfather, Jake was thankful that no one else was hurt. Or worse. He promised himself that one day, he'd find Rose again, and ask her why she did it. He had to know. He just had to.

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Jake shot straight up, sweat trickling down his face. It was another dream. Another dream of Rose. It was hard to imagine that just a few short hours ago, she had murdered his grandpa. Jake took a deep sigh as he looked at the clock. 3:00 AM. Jake let out a groan as he threw his legs out of bed, and headed downstairs towards the kitchen.

His mom was sitting at the kitchen table when he got down there, drinking a cup of hot chocolate. "Hey mom," he whispered as he walked into the room. His mother gave him a small smile, not the least bit surprised that he was there. "Who you like a cup of hot chocolate, Jake" she asked. Jake nodded as he sat down at the table, and his mom got up to make it for him. She got out a cup, and then went to the fridge to pull out the chocolate syrup and milk. Jake sat there in silence as he watched. His mother was busily working, mixing the milk and syrup together with a spoon. She finally put it in the microwave. After a few minutes, there was a soft beep, and his mother pulled out a steaming cup of hot chocolate. She handed it to Jake, and the two sat in silence for the longest time. It wasn't until then that Jake really got to look at his mom. Her skin was unusually pale, and she looked as if she hadn't been getting any sleep, and she had been crying for hours. It took some effort for her to lift even the simplest things like the cup of milk, and Jake had began to worry, but before he could say anything, his mom started to talk.

"Jake," she whispered.

"Yeah mom?"

"You and your sister… I want you to… I need you to take you sister, and go as far away from here as you can."

Jake sat there, staring at his mom. To his surprised, he wasn't shocked that she had said that. In fact, deep down inside he knew that he would have to do that very thing. But there was this nagging part of him that didn't want to go. His friends were here, his family. This was where he was born, and he had planed to die in New York as well. No, he couldn't leave. Not yet anyway. And what about the American Dragon? Was he just supposed to disappear all of the sudden, leaving the magical creatures of NYC helpless and scared? No.

"But mom –"

"Don't 'but' me young man! You and your sister are going to leave tomorrow night, and in the meantime, you and she are not allowed to go anywhere except home and school. Do you hear me?"

Jake had never seen his mom like that. She wasn't yelling, no she was to week for that, but her voice was stern and strict, yet somewhere in there, there was a little girl's voice, scared and helpless, and she was urging him to go. Jake simply nodded. There was no arguing with his mom. Once her mind was made up, it was done. He took one last gulp of his hot chocolate, and whipped the milk mustache off with his sleeve. He said good night to his mom, and slowly walked towards the stairs. He would have to figure out a way to tell Trixie and Spud that he was leaving… maybe he could tell them on their way to school. Or maybe he shouldn't tell them at all.

"Jake," his mother said as he reached the door way of the kitchen.

"Yeah mom?" He turned and looked at her. She looked frail and week. Jake bit his lip to keep himself from crying.

"just… be careful. And don't tell anyone you're leaving… especially not Trixie and Spud…"

Jake just nodded, and headed out of the room. So much for that idea…

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Okay, Chapter One is up and running! What do you think? This chapter is before the prologue, as will be the three or four chapters after it. I know, killing Lou Shi is totally not cool, but it goes better with my story, I promise. 

Anyway, you see that button right there. The one bellow? Yeah, Libby wants you to press it and review the story? Please…? Pretty please with cherries on top…?


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